Nicholas Stoller, who most recently directed “The Five-Year Engagement” for Universal, is in negotiations to helm the studio’s planned Seth Rogen-Zac Efron comedy “Townies.” Universal picked up the project in a bidding war in July, plunking down seven figures on the pitch from writers Andrew Cohen and Brendan O’Brien.

The story sees Rogen as a regular family man who lives near an alpha-male fraternity house and has to contend with a frat member (Efron) whose raucous behavior wreaks havoc on his life.

Rogen and his Point Grey Pictures partner Evan Goldberg are producing. James Weaver, Cohen and O’Brien are exec producing.

Stoller, considered part of the Judd Apatow crew, seems to have made Universal his home in recent years. He also directed “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” for the studio. He first worked with Rogen when the latter co-starred on the short-lived Fox series Undeclared and Stoller wrote a trio of episodes. [Source]